


The Vagabond's Vagabonds

by DmitriMolotov



Series: Los Santos Vagabonds [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: GTA AU, Gen, MadHouse Members - Freeform, a bit of fun, vagabonds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 12:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7508854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DmitriMolotov/pseuds/DmitriMolotov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Los Santos was in the grip of a bizarre crime wave. It would seem there was a spate of imitation Vagabonds popping up all over the city… but then, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And these guys were good. If they wanted to call themselves Vagabonds though, they were gonna have to earn it. Ryan had some things to teach them first. </p>
<p>A MadHouse fic for the GTA ‘verse; loosely based off my own: "<a href="https://dmitrimolotov.tumblr.com/post/145054339008/imitations-the-most-sincere-form-of-flattery">Imitation's the most sincere form of flattery</a>" and our adventures in the Discord.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Vagabond's Vagabonds

The Vagabond was notorious in Los Santos. A proud member of the Fake AH Crew, he was easily the most destructive, the most lethal, the most feared. It was fair to say he had a reputation.

Good or bad? Well, that largely depended on which side of the law - or his crew - you fell on.

So when he started to show up on news reports committing crimes that he hadn’t actually committed – to the best of his recollections anyway – it was somewhat unnerving.

It would seem there was a spate of imitation Vagabonds popping up all over Los Santos… but then, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And these Vagabonds were good.

Ryan was intrigued, but he was also cautious. He couldn’t risk an ambush. If he was going to meet with them, it had to be on his terms.

He devised a system of code that could be read easily enough… if you knew what to look for… and to do that you had to know his MO. He figured it should be easy enough for his followers to decode.

He wasn’t wrong.

~                        

It was quite the turnout atop the Maze bank at 3am. Never before had Ryan seen so many people, let alone people who were all dressed like him, on top of the building before. He climbed up to the raised steel platform and was greeted by a sea of ghostly faces looking up at him. Frankly it was a little intimidating, but he supposed that was a good thing. He had an image to maintain after all.

He cleared his throat, surveyed the group once more and began loudly, “First of all, thank you for coming…”

Many of the Vagabonds were surprised at his civility; there was a pleasant, almost gentle tone to his voice that many had never heard. _Maybe this was a trick?_ They collectively maintained a wary scepticism.

“I’m not sure I expected so many of you. How did you like my coded message by the way?”

The group of Vagabonds were quiet, not really sure what to say, until one stepped forward. “Simplistic.”

Ryan scoffed, “Really?”

 “It was obvious you were planning something from the first strike at the airport. The lack of explosives was uncharacteristic; it made it too obvious you were trying to get an exact number. So the body count was the first clue.” The Vagabond smirked, “For you, it really should have been much higher. Also, the locations were odd for you, low yield targets for robberies, not nearly enough of a challenge for you to be doing it just for fun… It didn’t take a genius to work out you were trying to send a message.”

He shrugged a little awkwardly and grinned, holding up his hands, “I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

“You can expect more from us,” The Vagabond replied.

He made a mental note to keep an eye on that one… If he could remember which one they were later…

“Alright then,” he said, with a mischievous glint in his eye, “you want to be Vagabonds, you gotta earn it. I won’t have any of you besmirching my good image.”

A few of the Vagabonds snickered at that.

“Lesson one: a Vagabond is always prepared.”

Sirens sounded below them and some of them noticed he had his phone in hand. He’d called the cops on them. There was no way for them to get out of the building without being apprehended. A few looked around nervously while some others started for the stairs in the hope they’d be quick enough to avoid the cops on their way out… or maybe plead their innocence.

The rest of the Vagabonds held their position on the roof, awaiting further instruction.

He grinned at them and raised an eyebrow, “Lesson two: ready for this one? A Vagabond is fearless.” He turned and dashed for the edge of the roof, throwing himself clear of the ledge before pulling the ripcord on his parachute and leisurely spiralling towards the ground below. The chute was bright red and written on top in big block letters were the words “FOLLOW ME”.

Almost immediately about a dozen of the Vagabonds surged forwards, following him over the edge with little regard for the safety of themselves or anyone around them. One of them apparently forgot it was necessary to have a parachute and plummeted to their death.

_Well, that’s one way to thin the ranks._

More were jumping now, albeit more cautiously and soon there was a spectacle of parachutes circling the building; following Ryan as he descended towards the streets.

He shouted above the din, “Lesson three: a Vagabond is adaptable!”

He guided his parachute to a nearby parked convertible and cut the chute away, dropping mostly gracefully into the driver’s seat and tearing off through the streets of Los Santos. Luckily for the remaining Vagabonds in pursuit, the car he had taken was a garish shade of pink, and reasonably easy to follow.

As each of the Vagabonds landed, they easily either hijacked or broke into and hotwired vehicles in the immediate vicinity. Some opted for motorbikes, others for larger, hardier vehicles; hell, a few even managed… god only knows how… to hijack a helicopter, likely from atop the Maze bank. They were definitely an ingenious bunch.

They managed to keep on top of Ryan by following him directly, or following each other, until he stopped suddenly. He’d spun his car around and was waiting for them in front of a large digital billboard.

He held up a finger in the direction of the billboard. The screen flashed white for a moment, before the words dissolved in, not unlike an old-school PowerPoint presentation: “Lesson four: a Vagabond is elusive.” The screen momentarily flashed with the FAHC logo and then “Lose the Cops”.

Ryan grinned, firing finger guns at them before speeding off, just as sirens started up behind the remaining Vagabonds.

The streets were in chaos, dozens of stolen vehicles and Vagabonds darting in and out of traffic, speeding down backstreets and trying to keep track of Ryan all while attempting to maintain a safe distance from the LSPD.

~

Two of the Vagabonds had jointly managed to steal a motorbike, figuring the speed and manoeuvrability would compensate for their lack of cover. If they were quick enough, they could keep up and evade the cops.

“We got cops ahead at 2 o’clock!”

“On it!” The Vagabond on the back of the bike wore a skull mask not entirely dissimilar to Ryan’s except in species… Hers was a fox skull.

“Use this!” Without looking back, the other Vagabond handed her a proximity mine, grinning wide.

“Where did you get this?!”

Still grinning, they steered the bike closer to the patrol car so the other could get a good shot at it. “…y’know, that’s not real important right now…”

She threw the mine and they veered off to make sure they were clear of the ensuing explosion. They were nearly cut off by another group of Vagabonds who had hotwired an SUV.

One leaned out the window to yell down at the pair on the bike, her harlequin-esque face paint an exact replica of the Vagabond’s old design, if only he’d used pink paint rather than red, “Which way did he go?”

The fox-masked one grinned up at them, “follow us!”

The other added, over his shoulder, “Just try to keep up!” He kicked the bike back into gear and tore off up the highway, if he was a betting man, he’d put it all on Chiliad.

~

Meanwhile four other Vagabonds had managed to hijack themselves a helicopter from the roof of the Maze. Their nominated pilot was a diminutive Vagabond with hand-painted dragon wings on the back of her black and blue leather jacket.

“Don’t lose him! He’s going North up power street!” A taller Vagabond was monitoring her phone screen, watching the tracking beacon she’d planted on what she’s correctly assumed to be Ryan’s somewhat-less-than-inconspicuous getaway vehicle, before they’d ascended the tower that was the Maze bank.

“You’re a genius; the beacon was a great idea!” One of the other Vagabonds wearing purple tinted goggles and hanging out the side of the helicopter congratulated her.

“Thanks, well-spotted on the car; you were right, it’s probably one of Ramsey’s.”

The remaining Vagabond let out a shriek of surprise that could only be described as ‘Gavin-like’.

“Guys? We might have company…” the fourth pointed out the police helicopter that was now in pursuit, following either them, or the carnage the Vagabonds on the street were creating in their wake. Either way, it didn’t look good.

“Good thing this thing has guns then, hey?” The pilot grinned, spinning the helicopter around to get a better shot at the police.

~ 

The flaming wreckage of the chopper came crashing down right in front of the bike. The vagabond driver swerved, but the bike skidded out from under them and they were sent rolling across the asphalt. He was quietly thankful he’d gotten rid of his proximity mines before the crash; otherwise things could have ended up a lot more… _fiery explosion-y_.

The rider was on his feet almost instantly, immediately running over to inspect the bike; the front rim was bent out at a severe angle. It wasn’t rideable. “Shit!”

The girl picked herself up tentatively, “No good?”

He kicked the bike in frustration, “Nope.”

The girl grabbed the pistol tucked at the small of her back, “C’mon, time to improvise.”

The pair of the stood in the middle of the road, stopping the next car that rounded the bend, guns at the ready.

The guy forced open the driver’s door, ready to pull them out of the car, but was met with a familiar face. Blue facepaint smeared around his amber eyes, a circuit tattoo on his neck peeking out from under the collar his army jacket.

“You!”

“Hey? What’s…?”

“Get in!" he urged the girl before jumping in himself and turning to the driver, "Drive! Mt Chiliad, go!”

The driver didn’t need to be told twice. He floored it.

~

The sun was just beginning to rise as the last few Vagabonds made it to the top of Mount Chiliad where Ryan was waiting, lounging back on the still-warm hood of Geoff’s disgustingly pink convertible. Geoff probably wouldn’t be happy he’d taken it, but it’d been fun, so what the hell.

The number of Vagabonds that had made it to the summit was nowhere near the number that had been atop the Maze. Many had lost their lives in the chase, been apprehended by police, or otherwise given up along the way. But that was the life of a Vagabond; they knew what they were getting themselves into.

Ryan waited for the last car arrive and unload a couple more Vagabonds before he jumped to his feet on the hood and motioned for them to gather around.

“I’ve gotta say, I’m kind of impressed… and no police. I might be able to make Vagabonds of you yet.”

When Ryan smiled at them, it seemed oddly genuine; y’know, for a mass murderer.

A few of the Vagabonds looked around at each other, grinning with pride, but it was short lived.

“Don’t think we’re done yet though, we’ve got a long way to go…” Ryan hopped down from the car, “Lesson five... How do we all feel about hand-to-hand combat?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More characters to be added in subsequent chapters.  
> ...it's really weird writing yourself in as a character in third person.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [SortaMadDog origins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11129118) by [SortaMad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SortaMad/pseuds/SortaMad)
  * [Egg's Vice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8760619) by [EggingtonToast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggingtonToast/pseuds/EggingtonToast)
  * [Match Box.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9259598) by [EggingtonToast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggingtonToast/pseuds/EggingtonToast)
  * [A Vagabond Named Molly](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11284422) by [CaPowArsenic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaPowArsenic/pseuds/CaPowArsenic)
  * [Shenanigans of Vagabond Capacity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11302713) by [CaPowArsenic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaPowArsenic/pseuds/CaPowArsenic), [Pokemongol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokemongol/pseuds/Pokemongol)




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